Wall Street Might Continue To Gain

(RTTNews) - Early cues from the U.S. Futures Index suggest that Wall Street might open significantly higher on Monday. Asian shares were lower at its closing, while European shares are trading positive.

The PMI Composite Final for December and the Factory Orders for November might be the highlights today.

The Labor Department's JOLTS report that tracks monthly change in job openings will be announced on Tuesday. The Service sector activity updates and Consumer Sentiment report are expected this week. The minutes of the latest Fed meeting also is scheduled Wednesday and payrolls report due on Friday.

In the Asian trading session on Monday, oil prices eased, while gold ticked lower.

As of 7.25 am ET, the Dow futures were up 139.00 points, the S&P 500 futures were adding 43.75 points and the Nasdaq 100 futures were progressing 212.75 points.

The U.S. major averages remained firmly positive on Friday's closing. The Nasdaq surged 340.88 points or 1.8 percent to 19,621.68, the S&P 500 jumped 73.92 points or 1.3 percent to 5,942.47 and the Dow climbed 339.86 points or 0.8 percent to 42,732.13.

On the economic front, the PMI Composite Final for December is scheduled at 9.45 am ET. In the prior month, the flash composite index was 56.6.

The Factory Orders for November will be issued at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for a decline of 0.4 percent, while it was up 0.2 percent in October.

The 3-year Treasury Note auction will be held at 1.00 pm ET.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook will speak on 'Economic Outlook and Financial Stability' at a conference hosted by the University of Michigan Law School.

Asian stocks ended lower on Monday. Chinese and Hong Kong markets ended on a sluggish note. China's Shanghai Composite index slipped 0.14 percent to 3,206.92. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 0.36 percent to 19,688.29.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 1.47 percent to 39,307.05 on its first day of trading for the New Year. The broader Topix index settled 1.02 percent lower at 2,756.38.

Australian markets ended marginally higher. New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 finished slightly up at 13,072.93.

European shares are trading higher. CAC 40 of France is adding 157.98 points or 2.17 percent. DAX of Germany is gaining 283.10 points or 1.42 percent. FTSE 100 of England is progressing 10.79 points or 0.13 percent. The Swiss Market Index is up 54.31 points or 0.47 percent.

Euro Stoxx 50 that provides a Blue-chip representation of supersector leaders in the Eurozone, is up 2.14 percent.